CHENNAI: Actor Kamal Haasan's film "Vishwaroopam," which has been stumbling from one controversy to another, will not release on Friday in Tamil Nadu as planned, after the Madras High Court stayed its release till January 28.

Haasan had approached the court after the state government issued a 15-day ban on film, whose release date has already been postponed once, fearing law and order problems. Muslim groups had alleged that it was derogatory to their religion and had appealed to the state government to ban it.

The High Court ruled that it would watch the film on January 26, before taking a decision on the ban.

Vishwaroopam, which was to earlier release on January 11, was first postponed after theatre owners threatened to boycott the film following the south Indian superstar's plan to premier it on direct-to-home television.

The state government had invoked Section 144 of the CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code) to ban the film, according to government sources. District collectors were intimated through phone calls about the ban, they added.

"The decision was taken after consultation with representatives of 24 Muslim organisations 'Federation of Muslim Organisations'," said a source from the government. "There was no official government order."

Adding to Haasan's woes is the fact that movie has already released in Malaysia, and pirated copies of the films DVDs could find their way to Tamil Nadu even before the films official release here.

"I'm sure the DVD's would be made available in a day or two. Kamal made a big blunder choosing the DTH route (which caused the earlier postponement). He should have planned it well in advance instead of making last minute decisions," said a popular film analyst, requesting anonymity.

Haasan's movies are no strangers to controversies. He had to bow down to pressure from a Hindu organisation and remove a song from his movie "Manmadhan Ambu" after the group alleged that it hurt religious sentiments. In another case, he had to change the title of a movie to "Virumandi" after allegations that the earlier title had derogatory references to a particular caste.

The news of the ban set social media networks abuzz. Actor Prakash Raj tweeted, "Ban on Vishwaroopam not fair. This cultural terrorism should stop."

Actor Shekhar Kapur, who has a guest role in Vishwaroopam, tweeted: "Stand up for Kamal Haasan's right to show the world Vishwaroopam and let the people decide, especially after censor board has passed the film".